Norman/Manga/PA/RS
Norman is the father of and the newly appointed Leader of the Petalburg Gym. On Ruby's 11th birthday, Norman had his wife and son move to Hoenn to live in Littleroot Town. Due to Norman's dislike of his son partaking in Pokémon Contests, Ruby held a grudge against his father. Ruby decided to run away and prove to his father the superiority of Pokémon Contests to battling. As he left, he took the Running Shoes his father gave him as a birthday present. Upon arriving at Petalburg City, Ruby attempted to avoid being spotted by Norman. His attempts led him to meeting , a sickly boy attempting to capture his first Pokémon. Wally asks Norman if he will teach him how to capture Pokémon as he had previously requested. He refuses due to Wally neglecting to inform Norman about his illness. Norman senses Ruby's presence, but when his attempt to get him to come out fails, he just passes it off as another wild Pokémon and leaves. Norman's search leads him to the Weather Institute, where he attacks Ruby, demanding to know why he ran away from home. Ruby considers running away, but he decides to stay and fight in order to prove to his father how determined he is. Norman easily gains the upper hand due to teaching Ruby all he knows about fighting, but Ruby turns the tide by using new tactics with the Pokémon he caught on his journey. The battle causes the worn-out institute to break apart, leaving Ruby and Norman left dangling above shrapnel that fell from their battle. With the Running Shoes he got as a gift from Norman, Ruby manages to save the both of them, but is left exhausted and defeated. Norman attempts to continue their battle, but he is stopped by fellow Gym Leader Winona. Winona tells Norman that he is in trouble for leaving his Gym despite challengers wanting to battle. Norman grudgingly obeys Winona's command to come with her. Before he leaves, Norman tells Ruby that he accepts his desire to partake in Pokémon Contests despite his own personal dislike of them. He demands that in return, Ruby should not return home until he has fully accomplished his goals. Later, Norman and the other Gym Leaders are called by Flannery to meet in Fortree City. They have a discussion on Team Magma and Team Aqua about whether or not one of the teams is evil and the other is good. Norman refuses to pick a side out of disinterest and begins to leave. Winona reminds him that as one of the Gym Leaders chosen by the Pokémon Association, he has to comply with the others. Norman refuses and continues leaving, but is stopped by Wattson. Wattson suggests that Norman use his strength to help in the upcoming Hoenn crisis and apologizes for the others' behavior due to their lack of knowledge about his past with the Pokémon Association. Norman politely tells Wattson to stop talking and heads off. When and are awakened, they begin causing and throughout Hoenn. Instead of helping stop the Pokémon from causing havoc, Norman decides to fulfill Wally's request and takes him to the Sky Pillar for training. After several days of training, Wally becomes much stronger from climbing the tower and battling the wild Pokémon inside. As they continue to train, Norman gets a call from Scott, who informs him that Ruby was chosen to be the wielder of the Red Orb used to control Groudon. This makes Norman decide to team up with Wally to awaken the third Legendary Pokémon that can stop Groudon and Kyogre, . Upon succeeding, Norman leaves Wally behind and flies off on Rayquaza to Sootopolis City. When Norman arrives, Ruby is fighting Groudon and Kyogre alone with both the Red and Blue Orbs in hand. Together, they use the orbs in conjunction with Rayquaza to send Groudon and Kyogre away to return to their long slumber. The strain of having controlled Rayquaza for too long causes Norman to collapse and begin dying. In his last breath, Norman reveals that five years ago, Ruby's battle with a Salamence caused it to go berserk and accidentally free the Rayquaza captured by the Pokémon Association. Not wanting his son to take the blame, Norman lied to the association and put the fault on himself. The Association Director barred Norman from taking the Gym Leader test for five years and ordered him to find Rayquaza. Norman was forced to distance himself from his family during that time, which eventually led to Ruby becoming the way he is now. He then dies in Ruby's arms, much to the horror of his son. When Archie and Maxie come out of hiding to attack the exhausted Ruby, they decide to burn Norman's corpse to make sure he won't be able to return to stop their plans again. Once Archie and Maxie were defeated, Ruby used his to revive all the people that were killed in the final battle. Norman is brought back to life thanks to Celebi's time travel abilities. Afterward, Norman celebrated the victory with his allies and thanked Ruby and for their assistance in the battle. Sapphire immediately challenged Norman to a Gym battle, which she managed to win and earn the Balance Badge.